GTD01 - Profile

So I have the difficult task of having a discussion with an employee over a miscalculation of her holiday entitlement.

After bank holidays and the Christmas break, our staff are left with 20 days to take when they choose.  

This particular employee is notorious for constantly swapping and changing her holidays and I think in all the confusion, I've miscalculated what she had left. So if she continues to take all the days off, in addition to what she's already had, she will have taken a total of 24 days this year. 4 days more than her entitlement.

My plan was to explain this to her and advise that she either needs to cancel 4 days holiday OR she is free to take the days booked, but have 4 days pay deducted (as we appreciate she may have made plans on those days authorised). 

She's not the easiest person to deal with, she does a lot of reading and is quick to express employee rights. So my question is do I have the right to give her those 2 options OR can she argue that it's our fault, so she is entitled to take the days and be paid?

If it was just one day, I would probably just give all the other staff an extra day off to make things easier and fair. But we're a very small company, so 4 days means we lose approx £300 for time off she's not entitle to. 

Any advice would be appreciated! 

Thanks Steve. We very rarely get to this stage with our customers, so I'm just totally unsure as to what the outcome will be.

We consider ourselves to be reasonable when resolving issues and encourage customers to contact us first, we're in no way inapproachable. We've dealt with them for almost 10 years, so they know us well, we've always given them discounts and honoured previous prices, so the fact they've started behaving in this way is a huge kick in the teeth to be honest.

Our factoring company aren't very personal, which is fair enough. So I've tried to be the softer approach when chasing for money. I have spoken with them on many occasions and tried to be sympathetic with their financial issues, so they've had the opportunity to tell me if they weren't happy, but they didn't. I was considering trying to help them out by offering a discount to encourage them pay it quicker. But since their dispute, I decided to stop any contact with them and just let our solicitors deal with it.

Our company is the only one in the UK that can do the product they order for their client every year, so they've unknowingly burnt their bridges. It's such a shame as it's a decent sized order, but I probably wouldn't do it for them again.

Having previously worked in the banking sector, I know all too well how companies will give all the best deals to new customers, but leave existing customers feeling worthless.

Now, I'm all about the existing customers and loyalty. I will honour previous rates and offer discounts, but I would never offer this to a client I have no business relationship with. Although it's important to prove yourself as being a good supplier, I also think a client needs to prove themselves as being a good customer. I do get those newbies that expect quick delivery, cheap rates and premium product, but until I have dealt with them a few times, I will be firm but fair on my pricings and terms.

Hi Everyone,

We completed some work for a customer back in Feb this year and since then they have failed to pay the invoice. It's well over £1000-00. Luckily, we factor all our invoices via a company that a) chases overdue invoices on our behalf and b) provide us legal cover should we require it.

This has now gone to court/legal stage and they have suddenly put in a counter claim/dispute stating that they shouldn't have to pay as the goods were 'late'. I have provided evidence to our solicitors of our T&C's that state we don't guarantee delivery dates and also communication showing I provided these terms to the client. I also have emails that don't dispute the amount owing but simply say they were in financial difficulty and couldn't yet pay.

My question is: can they win the case with a dispute of that kind? How would a judge look at that kind of counter claim. We are a reasonable company and had they come to us at the time and said they were not happy with our service, we possibly would have offered them a small discount, but they didn't. So where do we stand getting our money?

Many thanks

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your reply. Your answer has been very helpful

Hi everyone, I have a couple of questions re: maternity leave. I have been googling for a while now and have had no luck on getting clear answers.

1) Can an employer choose to pay someone more than statutory pay, during their maternity leave?

2) If the employee has offered to work from home during maternity leave (as their job allows them the flexibility to), can the employer choose to continue to pay them in full during maternity leave?

Thanks for reading

Hi everyone,

It's my first post on here, so my apologies if I'm in the wrong category.

I wanted ask what everyone's opinion is on refusing a customer’s order?

I have a client that has been buying our product for 5 years now. He orders a small quantity once a year, but complains every…single...time.

The effort I go to each year to ‘pacify him’, by honouring previous prices, offering discounts, re-doing the order, is working out more time and money than the order itself is worth. Whilst I never want to have to turn down work, I do feel that all jobs need to be somewhat profitable in order for a company to survive.

This year he has complained yet again about the order and stated that he will be taking his business elsewhere. I do this product for hundreds, if not thousands, of customers and rarely get complaints. I’ve supplied evidence to him that our product is fully functional on multiple occasions, but it’s not good enough in HIS eyes. So I do feel his expectations are too high, especially considering the price he pays.

I also know that my company is the only one in the UK that can do this product, so he will be back next year despite his threats, as he can’t get it anywhere else for the quantity and price he wants.

How do you professionally and respectfully turn down business? I don’t want to damage our reputation, but I also don't feel that suppliers should accept EVERY order, even if it's at a loss. There is such a thing as bad business and the customer is not always right.